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Jamie Chadwick has an idea for a new business. Since cellphone plans are so complex, people need help finding the the best plan at the best price. He helps them do just that, in exchange for a chunk of their savings, at Save Cell Communications.

I’ve reprinted his letter and response to my questions below. But I wonder why such a business is needed. Aren’t mobile phone companies good at communications? Isn’t that their core expertise? Apparently not.

Meanwhile, reader Mike is upset with wireless data plans. He thinks they’re too expensive in Canada and not keeping pace with what’s going on internationally. I’ll let him get into the details, but I have an interest. I carry a BlackBerry and pay those bills myself.

14 comments

Before you capitulate and allow Bell to insult you twice (first by “servicing” you and then by charging you a ridiculous $400 for it), contact the following group. Start with an e-mail of what you posted here and, if necessary, follow up with hardcopy by mail or fax.

It’s easy for me to say this because I don’t travel a lot for work, but my answer to the high cost of wireless data plans is to refuse to participate until the price is reasonable. When I do travel, I bring my laptop and connect to the Internet either through a WiFi hotspot or the hotel/conference centre’s wired or WiFi service.

As long as enough people buy wireless data packages from Bell, Telus or Rogers at current rates, the companies have little incentive to lower their prices. It’s worth pondering how “necessary” it is to be able to get your email anytime via a Blackberry or other PDA versus waiting until you can get a WiFi connection on your laptop.

I do think the eventual introduction of the iPhone to Canada could force the carriers to offer more reasonable data packages. Apple bargains hard on behalf of its potential customers and I bet Rogers will have to offer a similar deal to what AT&T customers in the US have for the iPhone.

Limits on data transfer are impractical, especially for business users — who’s going to ask their clients and colleagues to avoid sending them large files? I have actually had co-workers ask me to do that, and it’s very hard to remember to not cc so-and-so on specific emails when they’re an integral part of your team.

This would be hilarious if it wasn’t yet another demonstration of how screwed up the industry, and Bell especially, really are. But it’s not hilarious because in the end some poor guy is going to be out a lot of money simply because his technologically naivete was exploited by a greedy carrier.

Three people have contacted me from the Executive Care department from Bell Mobility. What they are saying is that if I send the phone back, they will not charge me the early termination fees, but there is a catch.

Bell charged me $150 for the phone when I signed up and that $150 will not be refunded. They state that I have used it for 21 minutes, according to their billing system. What I did was I went to the call history of my phone and added all the seconds of all the calls and they added up to 847 seconds of usage, which is less than the 15 minutes usage as per Bellâ€™s return policy.

Now I have to fight this battle to get my $150 back. At least, I am not getting hit with the $400 early termination fees, thanks largely to you.

I signed up for the Telus deal $15 unlimited data deal when I got sick of the Rogers coverage here in Atlantic Canada. I got the BlackBerry Pearl and I am somewhat happy with it. I thought there would be more to it and I get an http error when trying to get to some sites. My main thing is email, so it works perfectly and it’s easy to set up. The main thing is I can actually make and receive calls during my one-hour commute to and from work (Rogers…this didn’t happen, sorry I waited 5 years to cancel).

I am thinking that it may have been a trial offer for unlimited data to see if the market was there to bring in the iPhone. Some of you may not be aware that Verizon was originally to be the US carrier for the iPhone. There is a CDMA version if this was the case (I worked in iPhone support when it was introduced). I feel as plans go, Telus has the other 2 majors in Canada beat! I have the faves 45 and unlimited data with Telus. It’s still (to me) too good to be true (the reps say it is true LOL). I guess I will see with my first invoice. So far, Telus rocks!

Hi: I am doing short animations which show various aspects of dealing with Rogers in a negative light. I use the BRICK wall as metaphor for their service department. I seem to be getting a lot of hits. Most are less than 40 seconds.

Keep up the good work. They all stink but Rogers really seems to get under one’s skin. I think everything is run by AT&T anyway.